And Life Goes On
by Rocking Your Sox Since 1993
Summary: When Tifa discovers she is pregnant, she abandons Seventh Heaven to live on her own, leaving most traces of her past behind her, carrying with her only a bag full of things she needed, her name, her child, and a broken heart. SemiAU After Movie
1. Chapter 1

_Tifa grabbed her bag and walked downstairs. Looking around the bar, she smiled. All the happy times she had here brought back such good memories when she was feeling sad. It also brought her income for a long time. She stared at the game machines in the corner, that for some reason, reminded her of a promise **he** had made so long ago. She looked down, at her slightly large stomach, and then reached into her pocket. She pulled out a small black cellphone._

_"Wont be needing this anymore." She smiled again, only slightly, and placed the cellphone on the counter. She picked up her bag and turned the sign in the bar over to 'Closed'._

_As she grabbed the door handle, her phone started to ring on the counter, moving around as it vibrated._

_A tear ran down her face, hidden by the rain that blew into the bar, as she simply pulled the handle and walked to the street, hailing a cab. As the driver helped her place her suitcase in the trunk, he smiled._

_"Going on vacation?" He asked, quickly closing the trunk. He waited a few seconds for an answer and then got in the drivers seat._

_"Somthing like that..." Tifa said as she blinked out a few more tears._

_She got into the taxi and looked out the window one last time as the driver pulled away._

* * *

Tifa walked down Hallgot Avenue, towards the theatre. After finding out that she was pregnant, and abandoning Seventh Heaven, Tifa moved to a big city called Garland, northeast of the Golden Saucer. It was a fairly new city, built up from an extremely old town, discovered after some lucky soul struck oil right under a large diamond mine. Once the news got out, everyone rushed to move into the city.

Walking in the shadow of the tall buildings that towered above, Tifa rounded a corner into a small alley, and inserted a key into a large brass door on her left. After jiggling the old lock for a few seconds, it snapped open, and Tifa walked inside. As she entered the back storage room, Tifa flipped a light switch on her right, and hung her coat and purse on a coat rack left of the door. Kicking a few buckets out of her path, she made her way to a small red door that opened to a spiral staircase. She climbed the stairs cautiously, for there was no light to see by. She kept one hand on the rail and one hand out in front of her. After about a minute of walking, she started to grop around for a doorknob. She found it on her left and twisted it open.

The bright light of the theatre left her blind for a moment, as she entered the front of the theatre, beneath the stage, from a small door that was almost invisble in the paintings on the front of the stage that towered above her. As her eyes adjusted, she rushed to the left and into another door that lead up a few steps and onto the stage. She opened the curtain that blocked the steps and entered the unique backstage of the theatre. People were everywhere, stretching, dancing, singing, chatting, getting all sorts of costumes made. As she walked to the women's vanity area, a few people smiled and waved at her. When she got to her section, she sat in the chair and relaxed for a few seconds until...

"Tifa Strife! What do you think you are doing? You arent in your costume and you go on in fifteen minutes!" The director, Jeremy Adamson, always had some reason to get mad at Tifa.

"Dont freak out, Jeremy, I have plenty of time to get ready." She said, forcing a smile as she brushed her long brown hair.

"Oh yeah? Well do you have any time to practice?"

She turned to face him and looked him straight in the eye. "Plenty," she said as she stood and disappeared behind another curtain, this one leading to a dressing area.

"Tifa! Over here!" She was waved down by one of her good friends and her costume designer, Tetra.

Tifa smiled and walked over to greet her. "Hello, Tetra! Its nice to see you!" She gave her a hug, and Tetra held out a long dress in front of her. It was a simple white dress, with diamonds on the ruffles at the bottom.

"This if for your first act. I hid a zipper on the side like I did with the other one so its easy to get in and out of. Just dont tell Jeremy," Tetra grinned, smacking her gum.

"Thanks." Tifa smiled and quickly replaced her outfit with the dress. "Where are my shoes?"

"Right here." Tetra grinned again as she handed Tifa a box.

She raised an eyebrow and accepted the box from Tetra, hesitantly.

"Dont worry," Tetra assured her. "You are supposed to wear heals, but I took some of it off. Jeremy is crazy to have you standing out there in thin high heels and expect you to act." She smiled, winking at Tifa, who was already putting the shoes on.

_"...And so tonight we offer you..." _Both girls could hear Jeremy's voice drifting in from the large speakers. Tifa was almost late. She winked at Tetra, who smiled and mouthed some words of good fortune. Tifa nodded and rushed behind the curtain.

* * *

"And finally! Our leading lady, Ms. Tifa Strife!" Andre, the composer, called out the role at the end of the play. All the actors and actresses lined up for the final bow as flowers were flung from every direction. After the final bow, many of the ladies picked up several bouqets, and smiled and waved at the audience. Tifa stepped forward and stopped, instinctivly looking down as a single red rose landed at her feet. She picked it up and searched the crowd and the boxes for whoever might have thrown it, but had no luck in finding the secret admirer. She smiled slightly to herself as she brought it to her nose and inhaled its scent.

It smelled so familiar, yet of somthing so distant...

* * *

Tifa walked through the small grey door at the entrance to her appartment building. She stopped at the front desk.

"Mordrio, any mail for me today?" She asked the old landlord as he picked through stacks of letters.

"No, sorry Tifa." He smiled a toothy smile and turned back around.

Tifa made her way up the stairs to the seventh floor. She turned the corner and walked down the hall to apartment 709. Slipping her key in the lock, she walked in, placing her purse on a small table on her right and hanging her coat on a hook on the back of the door.

Her appartment was small, one bedroom, one bathroom, a kitchen, a small den, and a large closet that had a window in the back, leading to a private balcony. The closet was made into Tifa's bedroom. The bed was a bunk bed, one in which the top was used as a kind of dresser. Also, there was an ironing board, and a small TV mounted in the corner. The den was decorated with a tacky red sofa that had been ripped open more than once, a larger television that sat on a nightstand, a lamp, and a coffee table. The kitchen had a refridgerator, a counter, a stove, and a toaster oven. As Tifa walked into the house, she did as she always did after getting home from work: dismissed the baby-sitter, made sure that Arlena was in bed, and reminded herself to count her blessings.

Little did she know, someone else was counting her blessings aswell.

* * *

Okay you guys, short and choppy, I know. Too many breaks. xD Well I hope you guys enjoy this one better than all the other crappy ones I used to write. Remember those? Remember how much they sucked? Hopefully this was better. 

-Starr


	2. Chapter 2

Wow, you guys, 195 hits? 3 reviews? Dang! Thats awsome! I never expected that. Keep reading and I will keep writing!

Let me just make this clear that this story takes place 7 years after Arlena was born. We are just going to say that Tifa is 25...

* * *

Tifa reached over to turn her blaring alarm clock off. It was seven in the morning. She stretched and yawned before getting out of bed and heading into the kitchen. Moving to the small refridgerator, she grazed her fingers over the small glass of water that she had put the rose in. She smiled as the rose scent wafted into her nostrils, filling them with the sweet smell. She opened the refridgerator and pulled out a small jar of jelly, the last two pieces of bread, and a juice box. She reached into one of the cupboards and pulled down a jar of peanut butter, while focusing her other hand on pulling out a knife and a ziploc baggy from the drawer in front of her. She fixed a small sandwich, shoved it into the ziploc, then placed the ziploc and juice box into a pink "My Little Pony" lunch box that lay open on the stove. 

Walking into the small bedroom of the apartment, Tifa gently sat down next to her 7 year old daughter, Arlena. She brushed her dirty blonde hair out of her face, and lightly tapped her on the shoulder. As the small girl blinked her eyes open, Tifa smiled.

"Hey sweetie, you gotta get up. You've got school in a few hours." Tifa said as she absentmindedly drummed her fingers on Arlena's shoulder.

Arlena sat up slowly, and scratched the back of her head, smiling at her mother before releasing a large yawn. Tifa got up and made her way out to the kitchen once more, removing the milk and three slices of cheese from the refridgerator. She got down two glasses and poured the milk evenly into each one. Moving to the living room, she set two slices of cheese next to one glass of milk on the coffee table, and took a sip from the other before unwrapping the orange square.

Shoving her hand into the seat cushion behind her, Tifa groped for the remote control. It took a few seconds, but she finally was able to point it at the television and turned it on. Scrolling through the channels, she found that Fullmetal Alchemist was about to come on this morning, and tossed the remote on the other side of the couch, just as Arlena was about to sit down.

"Did you brush your teeth?" Tifa asked as she bit into the cheese.

"Mmhmm!" Arlena mumbled, her mouth already full.

"Did you...Put your jammies under your pillow?" Tifa smiled as she gazed into the t.v., watching the many morning comercials, before the Adult Swim logo popped up.

"Yes, mommy." Arlena took a drink of milk.

"Good. Now since today is Friday, and mommy has another show," Tifa took a drink, "if you want to spend the night at Marie's house, you can." Tifa looked over at her daughter who was smiling.

"But mommy...Its the weekend of winter break! Can I spend the weekend over there and then come to the theater and watch you preform?" She grinned big, showing off a slot where a tooth had recently escaped.

"Well...," Tifa pondered on whether or not it was such a good idea, "sure. I dont see any harm in that."

"Yay!" Arlena pounced on her mother in a great big hug.

"Alright, now come on. We gotta go catch your bus." Tifa said, and gently pushed her daughter off of her and slipping her feet into a pair of slippers. Arlena grabbed her lunch box off of the table and rushed to the door, her mother walking swiftly behind, stopping to grab a robe off of the coat hook.

As they walked down the stairs, Arlena smiled a big smile as she looked up at her mother.

"Mommy?" She asked.

"Yeah, sweety?" Tifa still looked ahead of herself as they climbed down.

"Are we going to stay here forever?" Arlena inquired, slowly.

"I dont know, sweety." Tifa said as she looked down at her daughter, questioningly.

"Well I like this place." Arlena smiled, and rushed down the last few steps and to the door, waving at Mordrio as she ran by.

Tifa followed her daughter quietly, and as they went out to the street, Arlena climbed onto the big yellow bus that was waiting for her outside.

As it drove off, Tifa walked back into the appartment building, and sighed.

"I got somethin for ye, today, Tifa. A weird guy with red hair showed up and dropped it off. He was real chatty. This one big bald guy was following him around." Mordrio said, as he reached under the counter and pulled out a small brown box.

Tifa looked at it questioningly, and took it, as she walked back up the stairs. It had her adress, and her first name on it, but no last name. The return adress was listed to be in Edge. As Tifa hit her floor, she walked inside and sat on the sofa, pondering on whether to open it or not. Finally, she reached onto the coffee table and picked up a small hairpin, sliding it under the tape on the box. As she opened it, she couldnt believe what was inside. It was a glowing yellow orb. Next to it was a small note, which she read.

_We havent forgotten. We know where you are._

_-Vincent Valentine_

Tifa was shocked that Vincent would send her anything, but the fact that they knew where she was made her upset. She didnt want them to know...

A knock on her door made her jump 90 feet.

As she walked over to the door, she cautiosly flipped the lock, then asked who it was. At that same moment, the person on the other side of the door rammed into it, breaking the lock in two.

She never expected who was on the other side of the door.


End file.
